1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wire fence roller assemblies and, more particularly, is concerned with a woven and barbed wire fence roller apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Woven and barbed wire fences are used in a variety of situations and are being put up and taken down all the time. Such fences, however, are difficult to handle and laborious to install and remove. Machines are often employed for unwinding or winding these fences during the installation and removal processes. Various types of machines have been developed over the years for this purpose.
Representative examples of prior art wire fence roller assemblies and the like are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,191 to Schley et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,834,574 to Sentman, U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,270 to Parker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,048,348 to Griffin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,393 to Misegadis, U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,340 to Trussell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,196 to Sammann et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,182 to Lester, U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,314 to Hughes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,779 to Crum. While these and other prior art wire fence roller assemblies appear to be satisfactory in use for the specific purposes for which they were designed, many seem unduly complicated to operate and limited in their applications.
Consequently, a need remains for an apparatus which will provide a more effective solution to the aforementioned problem in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof.
The present invention provides a woven and barbed wire fence roller apparatus designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The wire fence roller apparatus of the present invention is relatively simple to operate and yet versatile in its applications. The wire fence roller apparatus can be employed with both woven and barbed wire fences.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a wire fence roller apparatus which comprises: (a) a framework adapted for mounting on a movable carrier; (b) an elongated drum having a pair of opposite ends, a longitudinal central axis extending between the opposite ends and an outer surface surrounding and spaced radially outwardly from the longitudinal central axis and extending between the opposite ends, the drum being securely and rotatably mounted at one of the opposite ends thereof to the framework and releasably and rotatably latched at the other of the opposite ends thereof to the framework; (c) means for causing rotation of the drum about the longitudinal central axis thereof for winding or unwinding wire fence about or from the outer surface of the drum; and (d) means for causing pivotal movement of the drum relative to the framework for disposing the drum in an operative position wherein the other opposite end of the drum is rotatably latched to the framework so as to permit rotation of the drum and winding or unwinding of the wire fence about or from the outer surface of the drum and for disposing the drum in an inoperative position wherein the other opposite end of the drum is released and angularly displaced away from the framework so as to permit loading and unloading of the wire fence onto and from the drum.
More particularly, the framework has a substantially U-shaped configuration. The framework includes a pair of support beams and a pair of end portions. Each of the support beams has a pair of opposite ends such that the support beams are interconnected at the same ones of their opposite ends to the movable carrier. One of the end portions is pivotally swingably mounted to the other of the opposite ends of one of the support beams whereas the other of the end portions is stationarily mounted to the other of the opposite ends of the other of the support beams and spaced laterally and opposite from the pivotally swingably mounted one of the end portions. The framework further includes a central pedestal for mounting the framework to the movable carrier. The support beams are fixedly attached at the same ones of the opposite ends thereof to and extend in generally opposite directions from the central pedestal.
The drum at the one of the opposite ends thereof is securely and rotatably mounted to the pivotal end portion of the framework for undergoing pivotal swinging movement therewith whereas the drum at the other of the opposite ends thereof is releasably and rotatably mounted to the stationary end portion of the framework. The drum is pivotally swingable with the pivotal end portion of the framework relative to the support beams of the framework and pivotally swingable toward and away from the stationary end portion of the framework so as to dispose the drum in the operative position wherein the drum extends between the opposite end portions of the framework and the other of the opposite ends of the drum is rotatably latched to the stationary end portion of the framework to permit rotation of the drum and winding or unwinding of the wire fence about or from the drum and in an inoperative position wherein the other of the opposite ends of the drum is released from the stationary end portion of the framework and angularly displaced away therefrom to permit loading and unloading of the wire fence onto and from the drum. The means for causing pivotal movement of the drum relative to the framework includes an actuator connected between and to the pivotal end portion of the framework and the one of the support beams of the framework. The actuator is extendible and retractable for pivotally swingably moving the pivotal end portion of the framework and the drum therewith between the operative position and the inoperative position. The means for causing rotation of the drum includes a motor mounted to the pivotal end portion of the framework and a drive train movably coupling the motor to the one end of the drum such that operation of the motor causes rotation of the drum.
The drum has a plurality of slots defined in the outer surface thereof being circumferentially spaced apart from one another and extending generally parallel to the longitudinal central axis of the drum between the opposite ends thereof. The apparatus further comprises a plurality of elongated bars mounted to the drum for undergoing radial movement toward and away from the longitudinal central axis of the drum through the slots in the outer surface of the drum between an extended position wherein outer edges of the bars are disposed outwardly from the outer surface of the drum such that the wire fence in being wounded about the outer surface of the drum is wound on the outer edges of the bars and thus spaced outwardly from the outer surface and a retracted position wherein the outer edges of the bars are disposed closer to the outer surface of the drum than when at the extended position such that the wire fence wound about the outer surface of the drum can be slidably removed from the other of the opposite ends of the drum. The apparatus further comprises means for causing radial movement of the bars relative to the drum between the extended and retracted positions. The radial movement causing means includes an externally threaded drive screw rotatably mounted to the drum and extending along the longitudinal central axis of the drum, an internally threaded cam collar disposed around and threadably engaged with the drive screw for undergoing movement therealong in opposite directions upon rotation of the drive screw in opposite directions, a plurality of cam followers each attached to one of the bars and engaged with the cam collar such that each of the bars is radially movable between the retracted and extended positions in response to rotation of the drive screw in one or the other of the opposite directions which causes movement of the cam collar in one or the other of opposite directions along the longitudinal central axis of the drum, means for biasing each of the bars to the retracted position, and means for causing rotation of the drive screw in the opposite directions.
The apparatus still further comprises a pair of guide plates mounted to the drum and spaced apart from one another along the longitudinal central axis of the drum so as to define a region on the drum between the guide plates at which the wire fence can be wound and unwound about the outer surface of the drum. The apparatus yet further comprises a wire guiding arrangement. The wire guiding arrangement includes a support bracket having forward and rearward members and opposite end members extending between and rigidly interconnecting the forward and rearward members and a plurality of vertical rollers mounted upon the forward member of the support bracket. The rearward member of the support bracket is rotatably mounted to the framework such that the opposite end members of the support bracket extend above and forwardly of the drum to the forward member of the support bracket. The vertical rollers are laterally spaced apart from one another so as to define spaces therebetween through which individual strands of barbed wire fence are guided to the drum. The wire guiding arrangement also includes an actuator connected between and to the framework and the rearward member of the support bracket and being extendible and retractable for moving the support bracket between a raised inoperative position and a lowered operative position.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.